DnD Beholder Miniature: Top Picks for 2026 Collectors
A D&D beholder miniature is a highly detailed figure of the game’s most recognisable monster, and it fills two very different roles. On the table it is a gameplay aid, sized to a grid. On a shelf it is a display piece, and there the rules go out the window. Knowing which one you are shopping for changes everything: the scale, the base, the material, and how you paint it.
At Remerlinds we sit firmly on the display side. Our Beholder chibi by NomNom Figures stands 7.4 cm tall, printed to order in the Netherlands in premium Chitu Conjure Sculpt resin. It is not a 28mm grid mini, and we would rather say that plainly than sell you the wrong thing. This guide covers both worlds so you can pick correctly.
1. What makes a great beholder miniature?
Scale compatibility comes first, and it depends entirely on your intent. If the model is going into a combat encounter, it needs to sit on the right base for its size category. If it is going into a display cabinet, base size is irrelevant and you should chase sculpt quality instead.
Sculpt quality determines how well the figure paints up. Deep recesses between eyestalks, textured skin, and a well defined central eye all give a painter something to work with. Soft or flattened sculpts lose their detail under even a thin wash, which is why print resolution matters as much as the original sculpt. Our kits are printed at 16K on Uniformation machines specifically to keep those recesses crisp.
Material matters for both durability and detail. Resin captures finer detail than injection moulded plastic and holds sharp edges beautifully under primer. Plastic is more forgiving of rough handling and travels better in a dice bag.
✦ What to look for:
- Purpose: Grid play or display, decided before you buy
- Detail level: Deep recesses, textured skin, defined eyestalks
- Material: Resin for detail, plastic for rough table use
- Part breakdown: Separately cast eyestalks allow reposing and easier painting
- Finish: An unpainted kit gives you full creative control
Pro Tip: Check whether the eyestalks are cast separately or moulded onto the body. Separate stalks are far easier to paint before assembly, and they let you angle the model however you like.
2. Scale and base size for beholder figures
The standard scale for tabletop RPG miniatures runs 28mm to 32mm, matching D&D’s one inch grid squares. A beholder is a Large creature in 5e, which means a two inch footprint, so a grid legal beholder sits on a 50mm base. Some older or budget models use a 25mm base and look distinctly wrong next to correctly scaled player characters, which also causes real confusion when you are resolving area of effect spells.
At 28mm to 32mm scale a human sized figure stands roughly 28 to 32mm tall. A beholder’s body is about the size of a human torso, so a grid legal model including eyestalks usually lands somewhere in the 60 to 80mm range overall height.
Display beholders play by different rules. Our chibi beholder is 7.4 cm tall with the exaggerated head to body proportions that make chibis so appealing, and it comes into its own on a shelf or a desk rather than inside a grid square. Plenty of players do use chibis at the table anyway, as a friendly stand in for a monster they own and love. That is entirely your call, and nothing bad happens if the base does not measure two inches.
3. Resin vs. plastic beholder models
Resin captures finer surface detail than plastic. Thin eyestalk tips, individual teeth, and skin texture all hold their shape better. Resin also takes primer and paint readily, whereas PVC often needs a flexible primer to stop paint peeling off later.
Resin does have a reputation for brittleness, and older casting resins earned it. Modern miniature resins are a different proposition. We print in Chitu Conjure Sculpt, which is formulated for high detail miniatures and has meaningful toughness rather than the glassy snap of cheap resin. Thin protrusions like eyestalk tips still deserve care, but you are not handling spun sugar.
Plastic and pre-assembled PVC figures still win on pure resilience, which makes them the sensible choice if your minis live in a bag and get carried to a different house every week. The detail ceiling is lower, though modern injection moulding has closed that gap considerably.
If something does arrive damaged or a part goes missing, contact us before you reach for the putty. We print to order, so replacement parts are usually a quick fix on our end.
4. Customization options for beholder miniatures
Beholder models with separately cast eyestalks let you represent different active spell effects during combat. A disintegration ray reads differently from a sleep ray, and a physical cue on the model reinforces that at the table.
Separate parts also extend the life of a single model. Swapping a base, adding a stand, or angling the stalks differently gives you a visually distinct figure without buying a second one, which matters for a Dungeon Master running multiple beholder encounters across a campaign.
Made to order 3D printing takes this further. Every Remerlinds kit is printed for your order rather than pulled from a warehouse shelf, arrives unpainted, and comes in grey or beige resin so you can pick whichever base tone suits your painting approach. You choose the finish level too:
- 🥉 Bronze: Cleaned and cured. You sand the support contact points, fill, and prime.
- 🥈 Silver: Support marks sanded down and holes filled. Ready for you to prime.
- 🥇 Gold: Gaps filled and primed in black, grey, or white. Straight to paint.
The Beholder chibi by NomNom Figures runs from €18.99 at Bronze to €35.99 at Gold, which makes it an easy first resin kit if you have been curious but nervous about prep work.
5. Six styles of beholder model, and who each one suits
Beholder models fall into recognisable families. Knowing which family you want narrows the search enormously.
- Standard grid scale resin beholder (28 to 32mm): Full eyestalk detail, separately cast stalks, 50mm base. The right answer if the model is going into real encounters.
- Pre-assembled hard plastic beholder: Durable, affordable, ready for primer straight out of the box. Lower detail ceiling, but it survives being carried around.
- Chibi resin beholder: Exaggerated proportions, one enormous central eye, compact footprint. Charming on a shelf and forgiving to paint, since the eye is large enough to work on comfortably.
- Modular resin kit: Separate stalks, alternative bases, optional stand. Built for hobbyists who want to make the model their own.
- Oversized display resin beholder (75mm and up): Not grid legal and not trying to be. A centrepiece for a cabinet.
- Made to order 3D printed beholder: Printed in high resolution resin for your order, in poses and styles that mass production never bothers with.
Each serves a different need. Players who prioritise gameplay accuracy want the standard scale model. Collectors who prioritise visual impact lean toward the oversized or chibi variants. There is no wrong answer, only a mismatch between what you bought and what you wanted it for.
6. How to paint your beholder miniature
Painting a beholder rewards patience more than skill. The central eye is the whole model, and it is built up in many thin layers rather than one thick one. Rush it and you get a flat, cloudy disc that undermines everything else you did.
A workflow that works:
- Prime: Grey or black primer. Grey shows shadows and highlights clearly. If you ordered Gold, this step is already done for you.
- Base coat: Block in the main body colour. Classic beholders lean purple and violet.
- Build volume: A beholder is essentially a large sphere of flesh, so highlight from above to suggest ambient light wrapping around it. An airbrush does this quickly, but a soft drybrush or a few glazes get you most of the way there.
- Eyestalks: Paint each stalk individually, and vary the pupil colour across them to hint at different magical properties.
- Central eye: Layer from dark to light, thin coats, letting each dry. Finish with gloss varnish or a drop of water effect gel for a wet, glassy look.
- Wash and shade: Pull a dark wash into the recesses to define the skin texture.
- Final highlights: Edge highlight the stalk tips and the teeth with a light tone.
Pro Tip: Contrast style paints applied straight from the bottle are excellent on a beholder body. Lay the light tones down first, then layer darker tones over them to build depth quickly. A black primed Gold kit is a perfect starting point for a slapchop approach.
Colour schemes beyond the classic purple: deep ocean blue with bioluminescent green eyestalks, or a necrotic grey brown with sickly yellow eyes. Both read clearly at arm’s length and photograph well.
For a full walkthrough, our step by step guide to painting 3D printed figures covers priming, base coating, and finishing in detail.
7. Accessories and modifications
If your beholder floats on a stand, that stand is the weak point. Clear plastic supports flex and snap under a top heavy eyestalk mass, especially with frequent handling. A metal rod or heavy gauge wire anchored into the base fixes it permanently. Chibi beholders usually sidestep the problem entirely by sitting on their own base, which is one quiet advantage of the style.
✦ Worthwhile modifications:
- Metal rod stand: Drill the base, insert a steel rod, pin the model to it. Far more durable than clear plastic.
- Weighted base: Modelling putty or a metal washer under the base counteracts a top heavy sculpt.
- Gloss varnish on the central eye: Two or three coats after painting for a convincing wet look.
- Water effect gel: A single drop on the central eye adds a three dimensional glassy depth that varnish alone cannot match.
- Spell effect markers: Small coloured gems or resin drops on the stalk tips to show which rays are active.
Display options matter too. A textured base with dungeon stone or cavern floor detail grounds the model visually, and a clear acrylic case keeps dust and curious cats away from the eyestalks.
For more on preparing and painting resin, see our guide to painting 3D printed resin figures like a pro.
Key takeaways
Decide whether your beholder is for the grid or for the shelf, then pick the scale, material, and finish level to match.
| Point | Details |
|---|---|
| Grid play | Large creature, two inch footprint, so a 50mm base at 28 to 32mm scale. |
| Display pieces | Base size stops mattering. Our chibi beholder is 7.4 cm tall and built for a shelf. |
| Material choice | Resin captures finer detail and takes paint readily. Plastic survives rougher handling. |
| Central eye technique | Many thin layers, dark to light, finished with gloss varnish or water effect gel. |
| Finish level | Bronze for full DIY, Silver for prime ready, Gold for paint ready. |
Why the beholder is the hardest miniature I have ever painted
The beholder is not a beginner model. I learned that the hard way on my first attempt, when I rushed the central eye and ended up with a cloudy, flat disc that looked nothing like the menacing orb it was supposed to be. The fix was simple in theory: more layers, more patience. In practice it took three full repaints before I got a result I was happy with.
The eyestalks are the other challenge. Each one is a small painting project in itself. Varying the colours across all ten without making the model look chaotic takes a plan before you pick up a brush. I now sketch a rough colour map on paper first, and that one habit cut my painting time dramatically.
What surprised me most was how much volume work changed the body. A beholder is a large sphere of flesh, and without highlighting that follows the curve it just looks flat. An airbrush does it in minutes, but I got respectable results with glazes long before I owned one, so do not let the lack of a compressor stop you.
The thing that finally made the model less intimidating was lowering the bar. I stopped trying to match competition level work from events like the Bembel Miniature Cup and started asking a simpler question: does this look good at arm’s length across a gaming table? For most of us, that is the right standard.
— Nyx
Remerlinds resin figure kits, made to order in the Netherlands
Remerlinds makes 3D printed resin figure kits to order in the Netherlands. Nothing sits in a warehouse waiting for you. Your kit is printed when you order it, then washed, cured, quality checked, and packed by hand.
✦ What that means for you:
- Printed at 16K on Uniformation machines in premium Chitu Conjure Sculpt resin
- Supports already removed, washed, cured, and test fitted before it ships
- Every kit checked twice by hand, once by Matthias and once by Nadya, against a parts checklist that goes in the box so you can see exactly what was verified
- Three finish levels so you decide how much prep work you want to do
- Packed in recycled bubble wrap and packing paper, no foam, because foam is nearly impossible to reuse
- Delivery across the European Union and to selected international destinations
If you want to see what the same sculptor does at full display scale, the Frodo Baggins 75mm garage kit by NomNom Figures is a good benchmark for the level of detail on offer.
FAQ
What scale is a D&D beholder miniature?
A grid legal beholder is a Large creature, so it sits on a 50mm base at 28 to 32mm scale, and the model including eyestalks usually reaches 60 to 80mm in overall height. Display beholders ignore this entirely and come in whatever size suits the sculpt.
How big is the Remerlinds beholder?
Our Beholder chibi by NomNom Figures stands 7.4 cm tall. It is a chibi styled display piece rather than a grid scale wargaming mini, which is worth knowing before you order it for a specific encounter.
Is resin or plastic better for a beholder model?
Resin captures finer detail and takes paint more readily, which makes it the better choice for painters. Plastic handles frequent transport and heavy table use better. Modern miniature resins like Conjure Sculpt are considerably tougher than the brittle casting resins that gave the material its reputation.
How many paint layers does the central eye need?
There is no magic number. Build it in thin layers from dark to light until the gradient looks smooth, then seal it with gloss varnish or a drop of water effect gel for a glassy finish. Most painters find several thin layers beat two thick ones every time.
Do I need to remove supports or wash the kit?
No. Every Remerlinds kit arrives with supports already removed, washed, and fully cured. There is no liquid resin, no IPA, and no UV station involved on your side. Depending on the finish level you choose, some sanding and filling may still be yours to do, or none at all.
Can I use an airbrush on a beholder miniature?
An airbrush is the fastest way to build smooth volumetric highlights on the rounded body, so yes, and it is a good model to practise on. It is not required though. Glazes and careful drybrushing achieve a similar effect with more patience and no compressor.
